The Guyana and Suriname Fisheries Divisions of the Ministry of Agriculture (Guyana) and the Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (Ministerie van LVV – Suriname) respectively, will each host a workshop and training course on gear technology. The workshop will be held in Suriname from 2-6 December 2024 and in Guyana from 9-13 December 2024. Both events are part of the of the “Strategies, technologies, and social solutions to manage bycatch in tropical Large Marine Ecosystem Fisheries (REBYC-III CLME+)project.

The workshop and training courses, which will be conducted by Dr. Antonello Sala, Lead Technical Coordinator, Component I, REBYC-III CLME+ project, will focus on trawls targeting demersal finfish species, driftnets targeting demersal fish and will be attended by professionals in the industry.

This five-day workshop is designed to:

• assist participants gain a basic understanding of gear performance and engineering, with a focus on commercial trawl and driftnet fishing and seafood production;
• use computer models and tools and conduct experimental work; and
• design and develop the types of target fishing gear that will enable fisheries to become sustainable.

The workshop covers topics such as gear design, fishing gear performance, selectivity, fish behaviour, discard reduction, seabed impacts, energy use in fisheries, environmental impacts, and seafood sustainability initiatives.

Computer exercises will be used to demonstrate methods that make inference about the selective properties of fishing gears. The participants will learn to formulate and implement computer models for size selection processes in fishing gears. Practical training exercises will be conducted where experimental methodologies and relevant technology will be tried.

The REBYC-III CLME+ project is a USD5.3 million project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Trust Fund, implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and executed by The University of the West Indies (UWI), Faculty of Food and Agriculture (FFA). It is being implemented over a 48-month period in Barbados, Guyana, Suriname, and TT.

The objective of the REBYC-III CLME+ project, is to manage bycatch and reduce discards in the Caribbean and North Brazil Shelf Large Marine Ecosystems (CLME+) thereby promoting sustainable and responsible fisheries that provide economic opportunities while ensuring the conservation of marine living resources, and in doing so support country implementation of the CLME+ Strategic Action Plan.